Middlefield passes Interlocal Agreement, agrees to join COG

Published 12:00 am, Sunday, March 25, 2012

MIDDLEFIELD-- Though a few members of the town rejected the new 20-year Interlocal Agreement and becoming a Council of Governments, most voted in a favor of both at a public hearing Tuesday.

The 40-year-old expiring Durham Middlefield Interlocal Agreement Advisory Board contract is an agreement that provides the rules and regulations for the transfer station, which underwent countless revisions for nearly two years to bring it up-to-date.

Chad Spooner, member of the DMIAAB task force, said the nine-member task force was formed upon request of Middlefield First Selectman Jon Brayshaw and Durham First Selectwoman Laura Francis.

The group redrafted a 10-page document that the public had the chance to review Tuesday. Durham residents previously supported the agreement at a special meeting February 13.

And up until this point, several drafts have been reviewed and critiqued by towns' selectmen, attorneys and constituents.

"We were very careful in making adjustments," Spooner said. "Many changes had to do with state statutes and language relative to recycle."

One resident asked Spooner to clarify one purpose of the agreement--to provide for the residents and businesses of Durham and Middlefield--arguing that not all property owners reside in either town.

She said there are property owners who live out-of-state and wanted to know how they would be taxed for the services the station provides.

Spooner said he would look into it further with the rest of the task force but it's language that already existed in the document.

"If you live in a different state and own investment property here, I suspect the folks that rent the property, if they have a Connecticut driver's license, could go to the [Durham/ Middlefield Transfer Station and Recycling Center]."

Town planner, Geoff Colegrove, said as far as he knew, there had never been an issue. However, changes can be made to the contract with two-thirds of a vote from the interlocal group, and approval from the both boards of selectmen and town residents.

"This is the only agreement in town that's lasted 40 years without any major problems," Middlefield resident, Marianne Corona, said, complimenting the interlocal group.

Corona also praised the group for including a capital budget for this upcoming fiscal year, and said that had "always been a shortcoming on DMIAAB," and was a "big improvement."

But unlike how some Durham voters felt the Interlocal Agreement was a "hot potato" as result of Durham being represented unfairly, Corona said using population numbers as a way to determine the cost is a "good move" and has worked over the last 40 years.

Though section 4-1 is not new to the agreement, she said she hoped that a "serious consideration" by the board would be done first before it modified the "method of prorating costs to reflect an equitable distribution of said costs," in the event that it determined an imbalance in the amount of mixed municipal solid waste and recyclables.

Colegrove informed the public that the station now has a scale, which will provide a better opportunity to equalize the amount waste between the two towns, since he said it's "probably not based on population" but rather "residential generation."

"We're looking at different methods throughout the state to give everyone a fair rate," he said.

One Middlefield resident said the board should consider charging people who bring non-recyclables and accept hazardous materials so they don't end up at the dump and in residents' drinking water.

Corona said the town lacked a recycling coordinator, someone who would educate the younger generation.

Brayshaw said he felt it was a good contract and thought some of the issues brought before the board were "operational."

The contract passed in an 11-2 vote.

The next item up for approval during the public hearing was whether the town would become a Council of Governments in which Midstate Regional Planning Agency would merge with the Connecticut Estuary Planning Region to service17 towns. As a result, the region would be covered by only one planning agency. The blending of the two agencies will allow broader planning offerings.

Middlefield is a member of the Connecticut River Valley Council of Elected Officials, and is a group first selectmen, mayors, town council and town managers from Chester, Clinton, Cromwell, Deep River, Durham, East Haddam, East Hampton, Essex, Haddam, Killingworth, Lyme, Middlefield, Middletown, Old Lyme, Old Saybrook, Portland and Westbrook.

The state council voted on July 27, 2011 to become a Council of Governments, and Brayshaw said ratifying the vote would help the town choose what region it wants to be a part of.

"Middlefield has nothing in common with some of the other towns and cities," he said. "If we don't take a jump on this, we may be joined with towns we have nothing in common with."

One resident agreed saying it was better to act now instead of letting someone else make the decision for them.

The public agreed to become a Council of Governments in a 12-1 vote.

Once the consolidation takes place, Colegrove said he will be retiring, not moving forward with the organization, but will still serve as the town planner.

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There are no guarantees that once the group is formed, it will stay the same, a document reads. The Office of Policy and Management has been tasked by the legislature to look at the number of regions and it has recommended no changes to any region that voluntarily joins now, the document continues. The office will not look at the boundaries again for 20 years, in 2032.